


They Calls Me Romeo

by attemptedauthor



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Gen, Suicide mention, because they're discussing Romeo and Juliet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 13:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1859940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attemptedauthor/pseuds/attemptedauthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Davey discovers Romeo's never even heard the story of Romeo & Juliet</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Calls Me Romeo

**Author's Note:**

> As a note, I did put this under general even with the mention of the suicides in Romeo & Juliet, because all they are is mentioned once and I am very bad at rating things. Feel free to yell at me if it shouldn't be there.

Davey discovered Romeo’s lack of knowledge about the play his nickname had come from by accident.

The boys were finished the day’s work and had taken their spots at Jacobi’s, chattering happily. Davey had been left to a peaceful sort of silence, which no one had yet interrupted (although with this crowd, silence never lasted too long). Left to his thoughts, he let them wander, until they happened upon _Romeo and Juliet._

Davey drummed his fingers on his knee absently, not quite noticing he was speaking aloud. “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo.”

Romeo, sitting nearby, blinked once, looked up at Davey and furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m right here.” He waved a little at Davey, who seemed to realize that he’d been speaking aloud at the same time he realized Romeo thought he was talking to him.

“No— it’s a quote,” explained Davey. Romeo blinked at him. “You know, from the play?” Another blink. “Romeo and Juliet?” That at least seemed to click a little, and the younger boy looked a little sheepish as he nodded.

“Oh, yeah. Right, play. Yeah.” He nodded as though he had only the vaguest idea what they were talking about, and attempted to change the subject quickly. “Why’re you askin’ where I was though?”

Davey continued to stare, and Romeo started to wish he hadn’t asked at all. “ _Wherefore_ doesn’t mean _where,_ ” he said finally, and Romeo huffed.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?”

“By reading the play?”

Romeo snorted, and when Davey didn’t laugh, he looked at him in disbelief. “I ain’t _never_ read Romeo and Juliet.”

“You’re nicknamed after one of the characters, and you’ve never read the play?”

A shrug from Romeo. “Nope. When would I find time to read a whole play? Why would I read a whole play? Let alone one that uses hoity-toity old words like _wherefore._ ”

Davey bit his lip, as though it suddenly occurred to him none of the other boys had gone to school— some probably hadn’t even heard of the playwright, or wouldn’t know who he was. Which sort of sucked, because Davey thought Shakespeare was brilliant. So the offer to tell the story was instinct, and he didn’t really think it through before he started speaking. “Do you wanna know what it’s about?” Romeo blinked at him again, and his words became a little less confident. “Because I’ve read the play. And… I can tell you the story, if you want.”

Romeo hesitated a moment. “How come you wanna tell me in the first place?”

Davey shrugged. “Why not? It’s a good story.” Romeo didn’t look that convinced, which seemed a bit ridiculous to Davey, but the expression of skepticism on Romeo’s face gave way to one of curiosity after a moment or two.

“Ah, what the hell. Okay, what the story of Romeo and Juliet?” He moved seats to sit across from David, resting his chin on his fist.

Davey grinned in relief, feeling a little less stupid as he started to tell the story. “Okay, so the play starts out with the prologue, and we’re told the play takes place in Verona, Italy, and there’s a fight going on between two families — households — called the Capulets and the Montagues. Two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, are going to stop the fight, but only because they’re going to die by—”

 _“What?”_ Romeo looked horrified, and Davey cracked a smile. “They _die_?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Romeo demanded, and Davey’s grin grew a little smug.

“That’s spoiling the end of the play.”

Romeo gave him an incredulous look. “And tellin’ me they’s gonna die _wasn’t_ spoiling the end of the play?”

“Nope.”

Romeo sighed and waved his hand in a _continue_ sort of gesture, and Davey picked up where he left off. “They’re going to die by the end of the play, which will solve the fight because they each belong to different households— Romeo to the Montages and Juliet to the Capulets. Scene one opens to two servants of the house Capulet talking about how much they hate the Montagues. Sampson, one of the servants of the house Capulet…” Davey slowly weaved the story of Romeo and Juliet, doing the best he could to describe everything in detail.

He wasn’t the perfect storyteller, and had to add information later as they become relevant, or forgot something that wasn’t as trivial as he thought. Romeo wasn’t the most attentive listener at first, but after awhile his interjections got less and less frequent, until he managed to have only silent reactions to the play.

They were nearing the end of where act three would be if they were reading when Buttons interrupted them. “Davey? Ain’t you and Les supposed to be headin’ home soon?”

It was probably because Les was off somewhere being obnoxious, but either way it caused him to look out the window and realize how late it was getting.

“Uh, yeah. Where’s Les?”

“Gambling. With Race. They’re making bets, I’d get him now if I was you.”

Davey rolled his eyes and went to go grab his brother, waving at Romeo and Buttons as he left.

It was Romeo who searched him out the next day, telling him he had to hear the end of the story now, demanding that Davey finish it. He was a lot more attentive this time around, keeping all questions until Davey had finished.

“So they both died, like I said at the beginning, and even though it was a tragedy it solved the fight between the two households,” Davey concluded.

Romeo looked a little appalled at the end of the play. “They haven’t even known each other for more than a _week_!”

“I know,” said Davey, fighting a smile at Romeo’s reaction.

“And Romeo’s reaction to Juliet’s death is to kill himself? Like, nothin’ else? Like, he’s gonna go out right away and buy poison?”

“They were in love,” started Davey, but Romeo continued on about the choices of the characters while Davey failed at trying not to grin.

As Romeo lamented about the play, Davey could no longer keep from laughing. It took Romeo a second to realize what Davey was doing, and stopped up short halfway through a sentence about Juliet’s potential marriage to Paris. “What?”

“Nothing.” Romeo crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Davey, who just grinned. “Just that I thought the same when I first read the play.”

“And you don’t _now_?”

Davey shook his head. “Not really. I mean, it’s easier to get if you read the play, but despite the bloodshed and the flawed plans and questionable decisions from an audience point of view, it did end the fight. And while it’s not the love story everyone makes it out to be, the love story it actually tells is just as good. And it does take place in the 1300s, so…” Davey trailed off, shrugging.

“Huh.” Romeo rested his chin on his fist, thinking about that for a second. “I guess… still seems stupid to me.” He paused, and then said, “‘splains a lot though.”

“Hmm?”

Romeo looked up and smiled. “They calls me Romeo. I mean, I already knew why, I now I know why _more,_ y’know?”

“Because Romeo’s interests switched so quickly from Rosaline to Juliet?” asked Davey, regretting saying anything as soon as the question came out of his mouth. Personally, he wouldn’t like to be compared to Romeo Montague, but Romeo just grinned at him.

“Exactly!” He said cheerfully, an unmistakable note of pride in his voice, and simply laughed and winked at Davey’s look of confusion.

“You’re not even that much older than Juliet,” muttered Davey, as Romeo stood up.

“Nope,” he said, just as cheerfully as before, and Davey couldn’t help but laugh as he headed out of the room, exiting with just a wave and leaving Davey by himself.

It was a few days before he talked to Romeo about _Romeo and Juliet_ again, and for the second time, it was Romeo who came to talk to him, just after he’d finished selling his papers.

“Davey!”

Davey turned around. “Hmm?”

Romeo bit his lip, and for the first time really came off as the kid he was. Romeo’s behaviour was also loud and brash— stubborn as hell, and he always seemed to be a foot taller than he actually was because of how he acted.

He didn’t seem very big now. “I was just wonderin’, if, uhm, you had a copy of Romeo and Juliet, and if I could… If I could try and read it.”

Davey smiled. “Sure, Romeo, I’ll see if I can get a copy.”

Romeo grinned back, and that was the end of that conversation. Romeo headed off to talk with some of the other boys, and in a few minutes, Les tracked Davey down and tried to tell him he was going off somewhere— Davey didn’t really listen to where, and just took it as a clue they needed to get home before Les got himself into trouble.

Les didn’t like that idea, but they ended up at home anyway.

The next day, Davey had managed to get his hands on a copy of the play, and warned his parents he would be staying late again rather than heading home right after work.

After the work day, and everyone headed back to the Lodging House, Davey spent a few minutes searching before he found Romeo. “Still want a copy of Romeo and Juliet?”

Romeo looked up from where he was taking his shoes off and grinned, nodding and jerking his head so Davey came to sit next to him while he undid the laces of his boots. Davey sat down and pulled out the play just as Romeo finished kicking off his boots, and handed it off to Romeo.

Romeo paused, eyes widening a little at the stack of paper, as though he wasn’t sure he could read it. It occurred to Davey that he didn’t know how long it’d been since Romeo had been to school, or if he’d been at all. And the play was a pretty long read, with words no one really used anymore, let alone the newsies. But then Romeo sat up a little straighter, smoothed the paper out, and started reading aloud, finger tracing the words as he read them.

“Two households, both alike in — in dignity, in fair—” He paused for a second, and then seemed to get the word, “Verona, where we lay our scene…”

Romeo was about half way done the prologue when a few of the other boys started entering, chatting loudly about the day. Romeo ignored them, although he spoke a little quieter. It was Specs who noticed what he was doing first, and stopped nearby to listen to Romeo, still half in his vest. Slowly, the boys entering the room fell silent, at first simply because everyone else was, but then because of Romeo, curious as to what he was reading.

Romeo, meanwhile, was turning beet red with every word he stumbled over, and kept casting glances at the boys as they stopped talking. “Whose mis… ah, mis ad-adven… adventured pi— uh…”

“Piteous overthrows,” interjected Davey, and Romeo nodded, before stopping completely.

“So that’s… that’s all about the fight, yeah? And the line here, ‘starcrossed lovers’, that’s Juliet and Romeo, right?”

“Yep. That’s actually basically the jist of the whole prologue.”

“Well why’s it so flippin’ _long_ then?” muttered Romeo in frustration, putting his finger back on the page and making to read aloud again, but Specs cut him off halfway.

“What’re you reading?”

Romeo seemed to sigh a little, as though he was just trying to ignore the other boys in the room, but as Specs sat beside him and leaned over his shoulder, he started to explain. “I’m reading Romeo and Juliet. The play, by the old play writing guy from a long time ago who uses stupid words like _wherefore._ ” Romeo squared his shoulders, as though he was waiting for someone to laugh at him, but Specs just shrugged and started reading over Romeo’s shoulder.

“So where’d you get to?” There was Jack, last to enter, just soon enough to catch Romeo’s explanation. He wandered over to them and slung an arm around both Davey and Romeo, also reading over Romeo’s shoulder.

Romeo looked back over his shoulder at Jack, blinking a little for a second, and then turning back to the paper, hastily explaining it. “Just to here—” he pointed at the page, “But I only just started.” He looked back at Jack, as though hoping for some sort of sign of approval from him.

Jack grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, and Romeo grinned back, relaxing as Jack stood up and said, “Race, you’ve only got one shoe on.” Racetrack made a face, but continued pulling off his shoes, and slowly, the chatter in the room built up again, much to Romeo’s obvious relief.

As he started reading again, they were joined by Finch and Mush, who sat crossed legged facing Romeo. Maybe they were interested in the story. It didn’t really matter, Romeo pressed on with his reading.

They got through about a scene a night— sometimes more, sometimes less— and by the time they’d gotten to the end of Act Two, most of the boys were at least vaguely familiar with the story, and some actively listened as Romeo worked through it. Some nights were slower because of the language, where Davey had to explain what was meant a couple times a line. Sometimes someone made an interjection, be it Romeo himself or one of the others (sometimes to clarify something, but more often to point out jokes and snicker for a few minutes).

By the time they got to Act Three, everyone was reading together, taking on parts and occasionally performing the stage directions, which was usually met by laughter and eye-rolls. More often than not, Romeo was given the part of Juliet, which he seemed equal parts annoyed and enthusiastic about. Davey usually declined a part, until Romeo finally shoved the play into his hands and insisted he chose a part to read out, because, after all, reading the play had been because of him in the first place (and because it would be funny, but he didn’t mention that).

Romeo seemed delighted that everyone seemed to have taken a liking to the play, and had stopped worrying about his reading skills (which Davey pointed out as they started Act Four, were improving greatly), and focused more on the story itself. He often forgot that the other newsies hadn’t heard the story from Davey already, and when asked, stared blankly for a second before going over the story so far. He told it with a lot more dramatic flair than Davey had used, including large and hand gestures and his own personal opinions on the characters. Occasionally, Romeo would go off on a tangent and Davey took over explaining the rest of the scene. Davey didn’t need to help with word pronunciation as he did when they started, just the words that weren’t in use anymore.

As they wound down with the last scene of the play, Romeo was the only one reading, just as he had been at the beginning, although, granted, almost everyone was sitting nearby to listen to the end of the story they’d all grown to like.

“…For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” Romeo finished, and then looked up at the crowd around him. “That’s it,” he clarified, and then the room erupted into chatter, loud as it normally was, everyone getting pulled into side conversations, despite the main topic staying the same. Race began to voice the same opinions that Romeo had had after hearing the story the first time, that they were stupid, that they weren’t in love, that it was a little dramatic, and Romeo crossed his arms.

“He’s wrong,” he muttered to Davey, who just laughed.

“You thought the same when you heard the story,” Davey reminded him.

“Well, yeah. I guess. But it’s like you said, it’s easier when you read the play. Change how you look at it a bit. But he’s still got it pegged wrong.”

Davey wasn’t surprised. After all, it took Davey himself quite awhile to reach that conclusion independently, even though he had read it. Romeo had seemed to understand what he was getting at quickly, even if Davey’s explanations hadn’t been the best and reading the play hadn’t been the easiest. “So then tell him so.”

Romeo turned to Davey and blinked, as though he hadn’t thought of this, and opened his mouth as though he was going to argue, but then shut it and looked back at Race (who now had Albert and Henry agreeing with him). “Okay,” he said, and then stood up to argue his point.

Almost instantly after Romeo started speaking, sides were being taken and the chatter was getting louder. Romeo stood on a chair so that he was taller than Racetrack, waving the play with his hands as he spoke. Davey sat there grinning at the argument, not saying a word— at least, until Romeo said, “Davey agrees with me— right Davey?”

And then suddenly Davey was included too, although he could barely get a word in with how fast Romeo was shooting off things that he thought, until finally Davey just stood nearby and nodded as the younger boy spoke.

Boy, he’d never have thought _this_ group could get into an argument about Shakespeare.

Then again, the newsies had been full of surprises since day one.

In a few hours, when Davey was about to take Les home, Romeo managed to find him first. “Uhm, I wasn’t sure if you wanted this back, or…” He offered the copy of Romeo and Juliet back to Davey.

Davey smiled. “You can keep it, if you want.”

“Really?” Romeo drew the play back and looked at it a moment before dropping his arm to the side. And then he was hugging Davey, and it took Davey a moment to respond in kind. Romeo pulled away just as suddenly as he’d started the hug, and grinned at Davey. “Thanks,” he said, before pulling away.

It took Davey a second to reply, the hug had caught him off guard so much. “You’re welcome,” he finally managed, and Romeo grinned and waved as he headed off around the corner, leaving Davey to wave back a couple seconds after he was gone.

Davey shook his head and went back to find Les and pull him away from whatever conversation he was having (or whatever other trouble he was getting into), feeling very glad for the day a few weeks ago when he accidentally thought aloud.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for [this prompt](http://david-jacobs-would.tumblr.com/post/89307890034/fic-prompt-friday) on tumblr, and you can actually find the fic [here](http://seizintheday.tumblr.com/post/90034182157/they-calls-me-romeo) on tumblr, as it was posted there first.
> 
> One day I will write non-newsies stuff, but not today.


End file.
